Pub campaigners are urging Bristol City Council to scrap major plans to demolish an eyesore former hotel and turn another next door into offices and instead restore them to their former glory as bars. The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) says the authority’s proposals to buy or compulsory purchase both the derelict Grosvenor Hotel and the George and Railway building, opposite Temple Meads railway station, are “lacking both in imagination and ambition”.
It says many of the old Victorian interior features of the buildings are still intact and that an architectural survey should be carried out to determine the properties’ potential as a new pub/hotel gateway to Bristol. Council cabinet members rubber-stamped the latest stage of plans to transform the area on Tuesday (April 5) which includes spending £4million on a deal to bring the old George and Railway Hotel back into use.
It will then be sold to a development company which will redevelop the property into small and medium-sized offices before being leased back to the council to manage and rent out to companies. That comprises the first phase, and the report to cabinet gave fewer details about the Grosvenor Hotel, but previously announced plans revealed it would be bulldozed and replaced with a towering glass block, Engine Shed 2.
Read more: Bristol's eyesore Grosvenor Hotel and George and Railway will finally be bought
The intention is to then create a modern new public space called Temple Square Plaza, with the council seeking to buy Station Approach, the land in front of the station’s main entrance. But in a statement to cabinet, CAMRA’s Nigel Morris said: “With regards to the proposals to demolish the Grosvenor Hotel and refurbish the George and Railway public house as office space, CAMRA Bristol Pubs Group is of the opinion that both buildings should be restored to complement the setting of the historic Grade I*-listed Bristol Temple Meads station.
“Whilst we welcome Bristol City Council's compulsory purchase proposals for both buildings and the restoration of the George and Railway, we have grave reservations over some of the proposed outcomes which, sadly, we find lacking both in imagination and ambition. We would like to see the original interior of the public bar restored and retained, including wall seating, ceiling mouldings, ceiling rose etc, and see the building reused as a cafe, restaurant and bar with good-quality hotel accommodation on the first floor.
“A pub and hotel would act as a gateway to Temple Meads station and as an active street frontage as part of a local hub with customers coming from the new nearby university campus, the Engine Shed 1 & 2 offices, visitors/tourists to Bristol and walkers using the quay walkways and Station Street. A full architectural survey should be carried out to assess the building's potential.
“We believe that the Grosvenor Hotel can also be saved with a public bar/restaurant on the ground floor with hotel accommodation upstairs.” He said the original Victorian footprint could be retained and the 1950s extension demolished and replaced with something more appropriate.
Mr Norris said: “We are aware that original Victorian balustrades still survive throughout on several floors of the building and we therefore would support a full architectural survey being done to establish the extent of surviving Victorian features. We welcome the conference and meeting rooms as part of Engine Shed 2 with a new sympathetic extension to the George and Railway pub.
“We implore you to make the best use of both these historic buildings by returning them to a 21st-century version of their original purpose and using them to enhance the unique and historic setting of which they are a fundamental part’.” His written statement was noted but not read out at the meeting, instead cabinet members welcomed the report outlining the office plans and compulsory purchase orders authorisation.
Cllr Nicola Beech said: “I’m so glad after all these years we’ve been campaigning and working on Temple Meads and Temple Quarter regeneration. When people come to Bristol and they want to walk into the city and you say ‘You need to go down the Brunel Mile’ and then you point to what is just a horror show beyond the station.
“I really look forward to the day when we can stand at the station and say ‘Just go down the Brunel Mile, it’s right there’ and it will be this beautiful boulevard that connects to the city. We deserve better in Bristol. It’s been a long time coming and I’m chuffed this is the next step in this process.”
Deputy mayor Cllr Asher Craig said: “I’m really excited about what’s to come because the regeneration of that area is looking great. That’s an eyesore that has been a pain for Bristol for a very long time, so let’s get it done.”
